As we approach Peak Star Wars at last week’s Comic-Con, I’d like to present something so inexplicable yet potentially beguiling that it seems on the verge of exploding into a supernova of rich nerd lust. It is the MusicMachine 3, a music box shaped like an Imperial TIE Fighter. In fact the MusicMachine 3 contains two mechanical music playback systems, hidden in the rear of the fighter. Read More

The U.K. government is parceling out some of the £40 million earmarked for Internet of Things research back in the March pre-election budget, announcing a competition aimed at exploring the benefits connected tech might bring to U.K. cities with up to £10 million available for the winning project. Read More

Maker Peter Alaric DeSimone has created a 3D-printed dart pistol that shoots 40mm blowgun darts using a piston system. The entire gun takes about eight hours to build and features rubber bands to bring the piston down and reset the trigger.
DeSimone made a point to note that the gun is completely legal and is a direct reaction to proposed regulation that could make all gun blueprints –… Read More

Adam Savage is one of our most beloved makers and real astronaut Chris Hadfield is a modern Earth hero. Together they make one of the funnest sets of fake astronauts in all of San Diego.
Every year Savage dresses up as Adam Incognito and walks the show floor at Comic-Con. Hiding inside complex costumes, Savage is nearly unrecognizable until he takes off his mask or helmet. This year, to muddy… Read More

Welcome to the very-near future of porn. A few weeks back, a sex toy company called Lovense and a virtual reality porn company called VirtualRealPorn announced their collaboration. Soon, VirtualRealPorn’s growing library of VR porn videos will coordinate with Lovense’s digitally-endowed vibrator and Fleshlight-esque Max toy to stimulate your sensitive bits in sync with virtual sex. Read More

GoPro just announced its newest camera, the GoPro Hero4 Session, and Romain thinks that the company should maybe merge with Red Bull. The BBC is teaching children how to code via the Micro:bit, and Google Glass is apparently still a thing (that we’re talking about, at the very least).
This week’s episode of the TC Gadgets Podcast is brought to you by John Biggs, Romain Dillet and… Read More

Bolt is a San Francisco-based startup that makes electric motorbikes. The bikes are handmade in a small garage on the edge of town and come with the same type of lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas.
Co-founder Nathan Jauvtis grew up riding and assembling motorcycles and bikes, but he really liked the idea of building his own bike – one that would be clean and easy to ride. He started… Read More

DFRobot, a company that has been building robots for the education market since 2008, this week introduced its first attempt at making a robot accessible to all children, with the debut of Vortex – an interactive, programmable robot aimed at kids 6 and up. The Vortex robot pairs with iOS and Android smartphones or tablets over Bluetooth, and lets kids control its movement by tapping… Read More

Apple’s latest iPhone ad is a bit smug. Even for Apple. As you can see above, the ad takes the fight directly to Android phones by reminding that Apple makes both the iPhone hardware and software — something very few phone makers can say. Read More

Latest Crunch Report

Muere la revolución. Spanish smartphone maker Geeksphone has confirmed it’s stepping out of the mobile making game almost six years after founding a startup business to build handsets for an enthusiast community of geeks looking for something a little different to mainstream smartphones. Read More

Microsoft has posted a bit of CG describing what it will feel like to use the HoloLens, their augmented reality helmet, in real life. The resulting video, shot at Case Western Reserve University, shows doctors examining bodies as they float in midair, creating a new way to teach anatomy.
The resulting interaction – pinching to hide images, swiping through musculature – is… Read More

According to IDC, the global PC market’s unit volume slipped 11.8 percent in the second quarter of 2015, a slightly larger-than-expected dip. As the company notes, the size of the decline reflects a strong second quarter in the year-ago period, when the death of Windows XP bolstered sales of new machines.
In total, some 66.1 million PCs were sold in the three-month period. IDC… Read More

Part Swiss-made watch, part activity tracker, the Withings Activité is arguably one of the best looking activity trackers made to date. The device focuses on tracking simple movements like walking and running, and has an extra analog hand to provide feedback on how active you are each day.
Withings has now announced that the Activité and Activité Pop (a less expensive model) can… Read More

Get ready for the rebirth of Google Glass. Details were recently uncovered that indicate Google is working on an upgraded version. However not aimed at the general consumer, but at the enterprise market.
According to 9to5google, this upcoming edition will pack a larger display prism, Intel Atom CPU and the ability to connect an external battery pack — all upgrades critical for… Read More

Most of us at TechCrunch don’t get out much, instead choosing to blog from the comfort of our own home or office. However, some more adventurous reporters still crave the thrill of reporting live on scene.
Solocam is a selfie stick that may actually provide value (bear with me here) by letting journalists shoot video from the field without lugging around an entire camera crew. The… Read More

As we move towards a 420 future, hydroponic systems for a bit of homegrown foliage will be in great demand. The folks at 3Dponics are ready. They’ve announced a sort of modular hydroponic garden that snaps together like stoner LEGO and feature little pots, shields, and filters for your wee buds.
The 3Dponics folks are planning to release more information later this week but presumably… Read More

Yesterday, GoPro unveiled its latest flagship action camera, the GoPro Hero4 Session. As always, the company released a long video packed with great shots of extreme sports. But two things struck me — nearly every athlete in this video features a Red Bull logo on their gear, and producing videos like this one could become a lucrative business. The two companies should consider merging… Read More

The BBC is set to continue its history in educational computing with the Micro:bit. First displayed in March, the broadcaster just revealed the final design and programming environment of the tiny programmable board, which includes new sensors and abilities not previously displayed. The tiny device lacks the processing power of the Raspberry Pi and Arduino’s extensive ecosystem, but… Read More

Doppler Labs, the same team that brought you the Dubs mechanical ear plug and the Here Active Listening system, is today announcing the close of a $17 million Series B funding round, led by The Chernin Group, Wildcat Capital Management and Acequia Capital. Live Nation Entertainment, Universal Music Group and WME also participated in the round.
Doppler Labs was first founded by Noah Kraft and… Read More